Recutting Lee Molds
- Thread starter Todd M
- Start date
Minute Of Berm
Member
You might try Erik, he does mold mods. Whether he does what you're asking, I don't know.
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/
KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
Agree 100% w/what Ian said. Unless set up to do so, the time and resulting cost of recutting a Lee mold makes it financially impractical. For a hobbyist it might make a good starting point for a home machining project - a smooth sided core mold for example. But if I was a hobbyist machinist I would probably want to make my own blocks anyway, to get practice and to be sure I was starting with the geometrically best block I could get. Copying the basic dimensions of a Lyman SC mold is a good place to start.
9
9.3X62AL
Guest
I don't engage in machining of any kind, I pay for skilled folks to do that work--and don't mind doing so. My thoughts are that the money it would take to re-work a Lee mould block might be better spent on a truly nice tool like those from NOE, Accurate, or Mountain Molds--to name just a few possibilities.
fiver
Well-Known Member
yessir.
but you could cut a 'cherry' shape into a bit or piece of drill rod and cut a mold with it if you were so inclined.
they are called cherry's because the old ball mold cutters resembled a cherry with a stem.
they would rotate the cherry and slowly close the mold halves together cutting the material away.
when they started making other types of molds the practice of cutting them this way continued, and the name Cherry stuck to the tool.
back to the cutter.
think about spinning your house key in a mill/drill press and slowly moving a piece of metal in on it.
you would have an impression of your flat sided key now cut into a circle shape.
add or remove some of the metal from the key and you change the cut into the metal.
make a D. shape and you get a circle, elongate the D and you get the nose of a bullet.
just like the pointy end of your key would make a point in the steel.
make a J or L and cut with it and you get a drive band or move it up/down a little and you remove the drive band/gas check shank from an existing mold.
J
L
T
V
stack them up and spin them, see what you end up with?
gas checked pointy nosed boolit with a crimp groove and a strong middle drive band and a smaller length lube groove.
but you could cut a 'cherry' shape into a bit or piece of drill rod and cut a mold with it if you were so inclined.
they are called cherry's because the old ball mold cutters resembled a cherry with a stem.
they would rotate the cherry and slowly close the mold halves together cutting the material away.
when they started making other types of molds the practice of cutting them this way continued, and the name Cherry stuck to the tool.
back to the cutter.
think about spinning your house key in a mill/drill press and slowly moving a piece of metal in on it.
you would have an impression of your flat sided key now cut into a circle shape.
add or remove some of the metal from the key and you change the cut into the metal.
make a D. shape and you get a circle, elongate the D and you get the nose of a bullet.
just like the pointy end of your key would make a point in the steel.
make a J or L and cut with it and you get a drive band or move it up/down a little and you remove the drive band/gas check shank from an existing mold.
J
L
T
V
stack them up and spin them, see what you end up with?
gas checked pointy nosed boolit with a crimp groove and a strong middle drive band and a smaller length lube groove.
Todd M
Craftsman of metals...always learning.
Wow Fiver, that I can understand. I don't savvy that engineer talk but this I can see. So if I put two rods that fit snugly but will slide in the alignment pin holes, then I should be able to bring the two mold haves together smoothly and evenly. I still don't see how I can do it without at least a drill press...
On a very slight tangent....
There are things/projects that you can do where it's "value" isn't $$.The learning,self actualization received can open your eyes to components that,we sometimes take for granted.
The lowly old Lee single cavity.....if I had a buggered one...that poor thing would be on the operating table faster than you can say General Hospital.I'd prolly try making it a HP,but that's me.Milling off the length is too easy.Heck,making a cherry isn't that big of deal.
So Todd,find out why or what you want to do,then think about ways to accomplish the goal.Good luck,BW
There are things/projects that you can do where it's "value" isn't $$.The learning,self actualization received can open your eyes to components that,we sometimes take for granted.
The lowly old Lee single cavity.....if I had a buggered one...that poor thing would be on the operating table faster than you can say General Hospital.I'd prolly try making it a HP,but that's me.Milling off the length is too easy.Heck,making a cherry isn't that big of deal.
So Todd,find out why or what you want to do,then think about ways to accomplish the goal.Good luck,BW
fiver
Well-Known Member
things could be tough without a drill press.
but if you have a hand drill and some wood I bet a drill stand could be made.
most drills have a round area right above the chuck that could be clamped in a hole with a 2-1/2-3" screw.
that would make your drill holder.
a flat work surface to slide the halves on at the right height would be easy enough to make also.
the trick would be to then make a solid backed piece of wood with another piece pushing against the mold from the sides to hold things evenly.
you could run two bolts through two pieces of wood and wing nut them closed [burying the bolt head in the one piece] to squeeze the mold shut.
the only thing would be if the cutter grabbed at the mold so I guess you'd need to fasten the fixture down to the base.
some tinkering would be required but once you had it down I think you could do several molds or multiple cavity's with some slight modification to the jig.
but if you have a hand drill and some wood I bet a drill stand could be made.
most drills have a round area right above the chuck that could be clamped in a hole with a 2-1/2-3" screw.
that would make your drill holder.
a flat work surface to slide the halves on at the right height would be easy enough to make also.
the trick would be to then make a solid backed piece of wood with another piece pushing against the mold from the sides to hold things evenly.
you could run two bolts through two pieces of wood and wing nut them closed [burying the bolt head in the one piece] to squeeze the mold shut.
the only thing would be if the cutter grabbed at the mold so I guess you'd need to fasten the fixture down to the base.
some tinkering would be required but once you had it down I think you could do several molds or multiple cavity's with some slight modification to the jig.
Fiver, you have it all wrong.
Todd, you have a perfect storm here. You now "need" a lathe. Think of how much you can save.
It will likely cost 100-150 bucks to have the mould cavities recut. That is a bunch of money.
You can spend 3-5 grand on a lathe and some tooling and do it yourself!
The lathe expense isn't relevant. You are SAVING 150 bucks.
Dude, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Be a smart man and safe that 150 bucks! It's what a real caster does.
Todd, you have a perfect storm here. You now "need" a lathe. Think of how much you can save.
It will likely cost 100-150 bucks to have the mould cavities recut. That is a bunch of money.
You can spend 3-5 grand on a lathe and some tooling and do it yourself!
The lathe expense isn't relevant. You are SAVING 150 bucks.
Dude, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Be a smart man and safe that 150 bucks! It's what a real caster does.
fiver
Well-Known Member
the lathe would be the way around all the wood work and such. [save on buying a good power drill right off the bat too]
a small bench top model would get the job done now.
but down the road he could save even more money doing his own barrel chambering and threading, and even square up the face on some rifle actions with a little more investing.
he might even save enough to pay for it with the savings in 50-60 years by making his own nuts and bolts and future molds.
heck he could get a mill now too and build his own rifles and revolvers, scope mounts and rings and save even more.
he could save a pile of money just by tearing his trucks engine down and milling all the bolt heads over to SAE then he wouldn't have to buy another set of metric tools to put it back together.
a small bench top model would get the job done now.
but down the road he could save even more money doing his own barrel chambering and threading, and even square up the face on some rifle actions with a little more investing.
he might even save enough to pay for it with the savings in 50-60 years by making his own nuts and bolts and future molds.
heck he could get a mill now too and build his own rifles and revolvers, scope mounts and rings and save even more.
he could save a pile of money just by tearing his trucks engine down and milling all the bolt heads over to SAE then he wouldn't have to buy another set of metric tools to put it back together.
Ian
Notorious member
Preach it, Brother.
Todd M
Craftsman of metals...always learning.
Well I can clearly see I have fallen in with those guys Mama warned me about!
Truth be told, I have been drooling over the mini lathes and mills available online. How to pilfer $600 from the tax return without being detected???
So much "GOOD" advice here I don't know where to start!
Truth be told, I have been drooling over the mini lathes and mills available online. How to pilfer $600 from the tax return without being detected???
So much "GOOD" advice here I don't know where to start!
quicksylver
Well-Known Member
Listen to a very old and somewhat experienced man (me)....it doesn't matter they can read minds...and no Al. foil doesn't work...best approach is straight on and damn the whatever they are...